TSC students to offer free tax assistance

Texas Southmost College’s Business Information Technology (BIT) students help community members fill out their tax returns during the 2015 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at the TSC ITEC Center.

Tax season is here and for many people, it can be a stressful time of year. However, Texas Southmost College's Business Information Technology (BIT) students will help relieve some of that stress by providing free tax preparation assistance through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

TSC's VITA program site will begin on Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the ITEC Center, Room F-6. The site's tax preparation service is available by appointment only and open Monday through Saturday. The service will end on April 15.

"Our BIT accounting technology students are participating in VITA as part of the service learning component of their course work in their program of study," said TSC Accounting Technology Instructor Maggie Solis. "It's a way that our students can give back to the community."

Last year, TSC's VITA program site at the ITEC Center helped tax payers receive about $3.24 million in tax refunds.

"Some people have to pay $500 to $600 to have their taxes prepared, and they just don't have it," said Solis. "We're able to assist the people in our community and we do it for free."

VITA volunteers are trained and certified to provide assistance in preparing tax returns and help tax payers take advantage of tax credits, including the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

To qualify for the free tax preparation service, tax payers must earn an annual income less than $54,000.

TSC's VITA program site is part of a coalition of organizations with additional sites around Cameron County. The coalition is led by United Way.

For more information or to make an appointment, call (956) 295-3761.

About Texas Southmost College
Originally established in 1926, Texas Southmost College offers the first two years toward a bachelor's degree, along with career and technical education, college preparatory studies to prepare students for college-level work, workforce training, and continuing education. Recently selected as a Bright Spot by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, TSC offers 53 programs of study leading to an associate degree or certificate. TSC became independently operational in the fall of 2013, after engaging in a 20-year contractual arrangement with a public university.